Time flies. Fall has passed, and with it, one of many traditions celebrated in Amsterdam: Halloween. It’s the time of the year when we desperately scroll through Instagram, Pinterest, or any ‘picture inspiration app’ for the slight chance we find a costume for Halloween that no one has ever worn before. Frankly, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Perhaps we team up with a friend to wear matching outfits. The question remaining is just what to dress up as. Perhaps you had the best costume idea for that Halloween party you attended this year, or you ended up dressing as the same character as last year–and the year before that. However, there is a danger in disguise that is not talked about nearly enough in the quest for the ideal outfit for Halloween, or any costume party for that matter. 

Firstly, it is important to know the history of why we actually celebrate Halloween. When I was younger, my mum always told me that there was a darker meaning behind all the fun and I never really understood what she meant. She was talking about the original celebration, which is rooted in a traditional Celtic festival from thousands of years ago honored in the United States. On the day of the festival, it was believed that the souls and spirits of the dead would return. The tradition of putting on scary costumes traces back to the act of dressing up as a ghost to scare off these unwanted spirits.

Some might argue that a Halloween costume is just another fun excuse to dress up and go in character as someone else for a night, while others find the way people dress up for Halloween arguably offensive. “If you’re from a culture or country with a history of invading other countries and you decide you want to use the fashions of people your country has invaded, as a form of entertainment, that would be cultural appropriation“, says Royce Mahawatte, a senior lecturer in cultural studies at Central Saint Martins.

A few of the most commonly worn costumes reveal the most oppressive racial injustices. I thought dressing up as an Indian at that party in high school was totally fine, but now I don’t think like that anymore. There is a cultural appropriation of a darker history of systematic destruction and hatred against the Native Americans behind the search for that perfect Indian costume. Moreover, going as a mentally ill patient to a costume party actually ridicules the illness itself and mocks the people who are actually struggling with it on a daily basis. 

The idea that you cannot really understand someone if you have not been in that person’s shoes is vital when it comes to understanding the struggle of an oppressed ethnicity, race or culture. Why would it not be okay to just have a little fun? And can anything actually be perceived as ‘not offensive’ nowadays? It is like we want to find things to be offended by. Regardless of the different viewpoints of today’s politically correct society, we still need to find ways to understand those around us in order to respect their heritage and cultural history. 

So where do we draw the line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation? I believe it is up to the individual. If someone feels offended, we should think twice about at what cost our party costume is prioritized, and ask ourselves how we would feel in the same situation. So for next year, what will your costume be?